Program of Mortuary Science Update
by Michael LuBrant, Director
August 26, 2008
I am frequently asked about the demographics of students pursing a degree in mortuary science, and of course the one change that is perhaps most apparent is that of the gender of students pursuing a career in funeral service. Since about the year 2000, more women than men have been pursing mortuary science degree programs. According to the American Board of Funeral Service Education, in 2007, 59 percent of all mortuary science students in the U.S. were women, and women made up 57 percent of all college-enrolled students at all colleges and universities, as reported by the Chronicle of Higher Education. Into the future, we will likely see an increased enrollment of women in higher education, and this will, of course, also affect the gender demographic of students pursing a degree in mortuary science.
The issue of gender relating to work in funeral service is something about which there needs to be more discussion, based on questions I receive with increasing frequency from employers, students, and others working in funeral service. One goal I have for the coming year is to work with MFDA to build a strong relationship between our student body and funeral practitioners throughout the state, so that a positive and productive dialogue on this subject can begin to emerge. Jenny Meslow, who has worked for over two decades at the University as a student adviser for the Academic Health Center, is now assisting our Program as an adviser for our student association. The subject of workforce issues relating to gender (such as disability and / maternity leave, ADA regulations, etc.) is just one example of the kinds of discussions that I know students, as well as employers, have been asking about in recent years. Many of you who are on the MFDA ListServe may also recall that a few months ago, I forwarded a link to a segment on 60 minutes about the “millennial” generation – that segment of the American population now entering the workforce. Indeed, millennials have different values and ideas about work, life, and family than those of previous generations (myself included, who, as a “gen X’r” is now one generation removed from the millennials!). As funeral service moves into the future, it is important that we find new ways of bridging inter-generational differences, so that funeral service is able to retain the best and brightest of the young talent entering our profession today!
Changing subjects, I would like to remind everyone that on November 1, we will celebrate our Centennial event here on campus. A full agenda appears in a separate section of the Bulletin, as well as on-line at www.mortuarysciece.umn.edu. In September, we will mail out invitations to those individuals whose addresses we have in our data base – about 1400 names in all. It is possible that some of our friends, including non-alumni, vendors, and other supporters, might not appear on our list, and therefore may not receive a printed invitation. We would be honored to send invitations out to all who wish to attend. If you are unsure of your list status, please e-mail me at mpl@umn.edu, and I will make sure that we send an invitation to you. The afternoon portion of the day, including tours of the facilities, and presentations by Thomas Lynch and representatives from the Biomedical Library (and worth 3 CEU’s), is free and open to the public. We encourage you to bring family, friends and colleagues to campus to tour your alma mater, especially on Homecoming day! Tickets for the evening banquet at the Campus Club, for which Thomas Lynch will be the Keynote speaker, are $50 per person. We hope that many of you will be able to join us for this special day.
The University of Minnesota’s Program of Mortuary Science is Pleased to Announce the Creation of
The William L. McReavy Teaching Center
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I am thrilled to share with you the following news (please click here to read further) about a major gift to our Program from the McReavy family! As work progresses on this project, I will keep you all informed. What an incredible way to celebrate our Centennial year! My deepest thanks to the McReavy family for their support of this project. We envision this space will be used not only for teaching current students, but for the delivery of continuing education activities for practitioners throughout the state. For those of you who wish to share ideas about the project, have questions, or would like to offer suggestions, I welcome your e-mails to me at mpl@umn.edu, or phone 612-624-3980.
Sincerely - Michael LuBrant
Director, Program of Mortuary Science
(November 2007) As I write these lines, we are already half way through the academic term. It's amazing how fast the semester is moving along!
It's been a busy Fall for all of us here in the Program. I have spent much of the past 5 weeks "on the road" bringing news about our Program to our friends, alumni, and colleagues. It was a privilege for me to attend all 10 MFDA District Meetings with President Dan Dingmann. At each meeting, I was able to give attendees a "What’s New at the U" report. I enjoy traveling to these meetings because it provides me with the opportunity to see old friends, visit with former students, and meet other funeral service professionals. I wish to thank all of you who attended the meetings and showed me such great hospitality!
Earlier this month, I attended the annual convention of the National Funeral Directors Association, held at the Las Vegas Hilton Hotel and Convention Center (click here to see slideshow of our alumni gathering). It was a great convention, and there were many outstanding speakers and continuing education seminars. I am very happy to report that the Program was able to host a "Program of Mortuary Science Friends and Alumni Gathering" at the convention. We had over 50 alumni, friends, and supporters stop by for hors d'oeuvres, cocktails, and good conversation. I wish to offer a special thank you to several people who helped make this event possible. First, my thanks to Chris Brown of Brown Wilbert, Inc., and Dan Dingmann and MFDA, for donating money to help defray the expenses of this event. Thank you, Chris, Dan, and MFDA for you generous financial support! Likewise, my thanks to Tim Johnson for securing a fine gathering space for our meeting. We all had a lot of fun visiting with one another and looking at the "old" class photo books, which I brought along with me from Minnesota for the event. A great time was had by all. Our plan is to hold a similar event at the NFDA Convention next year, so be sure to mark you calendars!
In other news, our Alumni Society is working hard at planning our Centennial Celebration, to be held a year from now, in November of 2008. Our Society's coordinator (and Program business faculty member) Stephanie Christensen has been doing an excellent job keeping us all on task and focused on the work of planning such an important event. Please visit our website (http://www.mortuaryscience.umn.edu/mortsci/alumni.html) for updates. If you would like more information about Alumni activities, or would like to share ideas, etc., please contact Stephanie by e-mail at chris416@umn.edu or phone 952-935-4052.
Speaking of Alumni Events, this coming weekend, our Alumni Society will be hosting a student & alumni mixer and dinner at Jax Café in Minneapolis, just prior to Homecoming here at the U. This is our "Second Annual" homecoming event, and we are very excited that our RSVP numbers have increased from last year. Our goal is to build up participation each year. It seems we are off to a good start!
Finally, I want to mention that our Fall fund raising appeal letter will be mailed out shortly. As you know, we ask for financial support from our alumni, friends, and supporters two times a year. The monies that we raise go directly to the Program, and support activities that benefit our mission of education. One of the projects we would like to complete is the conversion of a storage area in the Slater Teaching Center into a fully modern funeral service arrangement conference room. As many of you know, the use of technology is being incorporated more and more into our profession. In fact, at NFDA, I heard a very interesting and informative presentation entitled "Why You Should Celebrate the Extinction of the Selection Room." This lecture was presented by a major casket supply company, and discussed, in part, how many firms now are using technology to present funeral service options to families. It is critical that we have such technology in place to serve as a teaching tool for our students. We are now raising money to convert this area in 2-125 Jackson Hall into a state-of-the-art teaching facility.
Another opportunity for giving is that of scholarship support. I am very excited to report that after two years of development work, we have been able to permanently endow the Minnesota Funeral Directors Association’s Past Presidents Scholarship Fund. We have now raised $25,000 in cash to make this a possibility. Right now, the University is offering a "matching" scholarship program to encourage donation to scholarship funds. Any monies which we receive now that are specifically designated to the MFDA Past Presidents Scholarship Fund will count as part of this match. This means that when the Minnesota Medical Foundation pays us the income on the principal in the endowment, the University will match this payout, dollar for dollar. We are working hard to make scholarships available to our students. I would ask that you please consider a gift to one of our scholarship funds this year. A donation at any amount will help us provide students with the financial help they need to complete their higher education here at the U.
In closing, I wish to that you all for your continued support and encouragement of our work here in Mortuary Science. Thank you for all you do to help make our Program the best of its kind in the nation!
Michael LuBrant - Program Director
(September 13, 2007) Save the dates! On Saturday, November 3, from 3:00 – 6:00PM, our Alumni Society will be hosting an alumni-student gathering prior to the homecoming football game. The event will be a “tailgaiting” buffet party, with brats, pulled-beef, salad, beans, and chips being served! We will be having this fun event at Jax Café, 1928 University Avenue NE., in Minneapolis. Please RSVP your attendance to Tom Weber (763) 424-4000 or tom@evansnordby.com, by October 26th. The cost is $20 per person. All alumni and friends of the program are encouraged to attend! If you would like to attend the football game (Minnesota vs. Illinois), kickoff is at 7:00PM at the Metrodome. To order tickets, call 1-800-UGOPHER, or visit www.gophersports.com.
The second event we ask you to save the date for is November 1, 2008. On this day, we will celebrate our program’s centennial! (1908-2008). Plans are underway for celebrating this landmark event in grand style. There will be opportunities for earning CEU’s, as well as networking with classmates and other alumni. The day will conclude with a special dinner, to be held on campus at Coffman Union, in the Great Hall. In an effort to ensure that alumni receive invitations to this event, please update your contact information with Stephanie Christensen, Alumni Relations Coordinator for the Program of Mortuary Science, at chris416@umn.edu. You may also call (612) 624-6464, or write to the Program office: MMC 740, 420 Delaware Street SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455. We would love to receive copies of photos and other memorabilia that you would like to see displayed and / or included as part of the event. If you would like to help out with planning, please let Stephanie know as soon as possible. We are also in need of corporate and individual support to help defray the expense of this event.
I am very happy to report that we have exceeded our enrollment goal for the 2007 academic year. We received 72 applications for admission: 47 (65%) were from women, and 25 (35%) were from men. We offered admission to 38 students. Of the 38 students offered admission, 35 enrolled in the program: 20 women (57%) and 15 men (43%). As is typical, most of incoming students (n=22, or 63%) are from Minnesota. We also enrolled students from North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, and Michigan. The ages of our incoming student body range from 20 to 54 (median age of 22). The academic preparation of this group is very strong, with a mean grade point average of 3.1. The total student population for the program this Fall, which includes new and returning students, is 63. Indeed, we have a full house!
We have had some faculty transitions that I want to update you on. Earl Burger, who first retired from the program in the early 1990’s, has re-retired! Many of you know from my previous articles that Earl came back to the program in 2002 to help with restorative art theory and lab instruction. Thank you, Earl, for your continued service to the program. You will be missed!
Many of you knew Dick Grayson, who was our law instructor for many years. Dick’s son, Peter, began teaching for us about 5 years ago. Peter was called up for active military duty about a year and a half ago, and served as a lawyer for our troops as part of the war in Iraq. Peter returned to the States from duty this past February, and resumed teaching for the program at that time. In May, Peter accepted an excellent full-time attorney position working for the government. Unfortunately, this meant relocating to the east coast. Sadly, we had to say goodbye to Peter in May. Thank you, Peter, for all you did for us!
Taking over for Peter is Doug Meslow. Doug has been a practicing attorney for over 20 years, has served in the MN House of Representatives (2003-2006), and most recently has been appointed a District Court Judge (10th Judicial District) by Governor Pawlenty. Doug taught for us when Peter was in Germany last year, and was very well received by our students. We are happy to have him back with us again this year!
Another transition is Steven Tibbetts's departure from the Program. Steve taught for us for twenty years. We thank him for his outstanding service, and will miss him. Dr. David Swarthout is now teaching our funeral service psychology and counseling coursework. David has spent much of his professional career (over twenty years) working with clients who come to him for counsel regarding issues that involve loss, grief, and bereavement. David holds a doctorate in psychology and counseling from the University of St. Thomas, and licensure as a counselor and therapist.
Finally, Dr. Janis Amauzio has requested a break from teaching a full-semester course with us for the next year or two. As many of you know, Janis is very busy building a new medical examiner complex in Anoka County. With all the work that is going into that project, she needs time to direct her full efforts to that endeavor. Janis will continue to provide lectures to our students about forensic pathology, and will teach about ways morticians and forensic pathologists can work together in service to families. He goal is to return to a full semester of teaching in a couple of years.
The remainder of the program faculty and staff is as follows: myself (administration, clinical education), Stephanie Christensen (business management, marketing, and sales), Jody LaCourt (embalming and RA theory and lab), Michael Mathews (numerous courses), Angie McArthur (human anatomy lab), and Rev. Gloria Roach-Thomas (death and dying across cultures and religions). And, as always, Kathy Nolan (student support services professional, now with 43+ years of service to the program), continues to hold everything together!
In my next column, I will discuss some changes and updates in the program’s curriculum. Until then, if you have questions or comments, please feel to write (mpl@umn.edu) or call (612) 624-3980. Likewise, visit us at www.mortuaryscience.umn.edu. I hope to see many of you at our homecoming event at Jax’s Café in November!
Michael LuBrant - Program Director
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